Solo TCK-12 DIY 12 String Electric Guitar Kit

(15 customer reviews)

$ USD 189.99

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SKU: TCK-12 Category: Electric Guitar Kits Brand:
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Solo Pro Black Conductive Shielding Paint
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In stock

from $ USD 12.99
$ USD 99.99

Description

This DIY guitar kit has everything you need for building your own TC Style 12-String Electric Guitar.  You will only need some basic tools and finishing supplies. This kit includes all parts and step-by-step instructions to build a complete, playable custom guitar. All challenging wood cutting, drilling and shaping has already been professionally done, as well as fret leveling and dressing.

Recommended tools: Solo Guitar Assembly Kit Bolt-on Neck

Kit includes:

  • Basswood body with a poly sealant
  • Unfinished maple neck with maple fingerboard
  • Hex threaded peghead bushings with washers
  • String Retainers
  • Tuning Machines
  • Strings
  • Strap Buttons
  • Pickguard Assembly
  • Bridge Assembly
  • Neck Plate
  • Control Plate Assembly
  • Jack plate
  • Cord
  • Hex wrench for truss-rod adjustment
  • Allen Key for saddle height adjustment
  • All mounting screws are included
IMPORTANT (in addition to our standard return policy): due to their nature kits can be returned only in virtually untouched condition and in original package.

Additional information

DIY Kit Information
Finish

Style

Body Information
Pickguard

Thickness

Body Material

Binding

Neck Information
Fretboard

Construction

Frets

Inlays

Scale Length

Thick Nut

Width Nut

Hardware and Electronics
Hardware Color

Selector Type

Bridge

Controls

Electronics

Pickups

Tuners

Additional Information
Weight

11 lbs

15 reviews for Solo TCK-12 DIY 12 String Electric Guitar Kit

  1. Jean-Claude Chambers

    I had wanted a 12-string electric for years, and came across this Tele DIY kit from Solomusicgear. I received the 12-string Tele this Christmas, and spent my holidays lovingly sanding the neck and body, and rubbing on coats of Tru Oil. It’s absolutely turned out to be a beauty!! A little tender loving care and it assembled perfectly. No nasty surprises, and no missing components. Everything fit, and following the wiring instructions, it worked the first time! It sounds spectacular! I really couldn’t have hoped for more. I’ll see if I can figure out how to post some glamor shots to the Solomusicgear Facebook page. In the coming summer, I’ll try a Strat kit and do a retro blue paint job on it, as it will be warm enough to do the spray painting outside. Awesome experience from both a learning and playing perspective!!

  2. Thatguy (verified owner)

    Easy Build, quick customer service response! Great tone, fast neck! Some of the pickguard screws were missing but I had a few spares lying around. Great 12 string for the price!

  3. Robert Arnold (verified owner)

    So far everything is Great! Prepping the guitar to get it ready for the build. Delievery was fast and well packaged. I will be buying many more from this store . You are a musicians answer. Thanks.
    I will post pictures when done.
    One very good kit

  4. Peter Bowman (verified owner)

    Bought this 12-string six months ago. Assembly was a snap – all parts fit properly, the neck is straight and the truss rod works, the body is correctly routed, electronics are what I expected, pickups sound good with the bridge giving the appropriate jangle, and the hardware is very good for the price. There was, of course, a little setup required: nut adjustment; fret file, crown and polish; bridge height and intonation. Quibble? The string gauges are unmarked. Meh.
    All in all, a very good piece of gear for a very good price. I may try another axe from here, perhaps a Beatles violin bass.

  5. Rejean Noel (verified owner)

    I wanted an afordable Tele style 12 strings guitar as I m more a 6 strings player so that kit was perfect for my needs and exceed more then I expected. The string action is almost same as my fender standard telecaster. I had so much fun to put it together and the service is out of standard they answer all my questions and so quick. the kit packaging was perfect . The only thing missing was the 12 screws needed for the tuners otherwise everything was there. I used a Saman water base stain and a Saman water base clrear coat on it. It gave me an awesome finish quality that i recomand especialy for beginners, it s so easy to apply and so forgiving if you have to do touch ups on it. the pick ups are nice sounding I don’t plan to swap them. The electronic work fine and no back ground noise at the amp! The neck and frets leveling were perfect as that kit have a double action truss rod is a must. I had to sand the nut down a little and set the truss rod and strings action. I am really satified with that so cool guitar it play like a dream. that was my first DIY kit but not the last one and i will buy others from Solo for sure. Price wise that kit woth the money and i dare you to find any electric 12 strings for that price!

  6. dmc19751 (verified owner)

    I always wanted a 12 string electric but Ricks are ridiculously expensive. Frankly I did not expect much at the price point of the Tele 12. I’m at the point of the endless fiddling and set up that holds true to all my instruments, but I’ve arrived at a place where I can say this is quite a remarkable product. I’ve showed it off to some of my more snootier guitar types and they are amazed. I’m a player (some would disagree lol) but I do a lot of set up, minor repair and fret dressing. I think for someone with no ability to set up you could have someone do the finishing, assemble and then hand it over to a guitar tech to set up. It would add a couple 100 to the cost but you would end up with a great guitar. I did everything myself and I’m certainly no expert, especially at finishing work. The guitar turned out quite remarkable and the top looks like it’s out of the factory. I was amazed at how well everything fits together…very precise. My neck has a bit of a reverse bow but for a 12 string that’s an advantage. I also went to a much heavier string (Ernie Ball 11-52)and it sounds very impressive. I just saved about $4000 bucks and I’m very proud of my first guitar build. I wouldn’t let this thing go for under $700. The instructions could be better for a total novice but just contact Solo and they’re good at responding. Don’t be in a hurry.
    If you’ve ever wanted to jump off the deep end and build your own axe this is the place. You’ll be pleasantly surprised…PS ‘TAKE YOU’RE TIME!’

  7. wrench5423

    I bought this kit through amazon because, for some reason, SOLO wouldn’t accept my card. ok, I payed $10 more for it then the SOLO site price. when I received it the first thing I noted was that the nut was in backwards, easy fix. I had asked the people at solo which neck pickup rout the body had and they replied it was standard tele S/C. WRONG, it is routed for a P90 WHICH IS WHAT I WANTED. after a pre-finish assembly to make sure everything is right I find that the bridge mounting holes are drilled a little to the left of the center line, again an easy fix, drill, fill and redrill. so, after all of that I did an inexpensive finish and put this guitar together and I am impressed. the only things I really changed was to put a P90 in the neck position and a vintage tele pickup in the bridge. this guitar sounds so sweet and plays so nice that my better half wanted to play and she never cared at all about my guitars. the neck is huge, way bigger then the fender XII I had back in the early ’70s but so easy to play. after a very short time to set this guitar up it actually has the string height of my best tele and plays as easily. hats off to you all at SOLO, excellent kit.

  8. sam_austin (verified owner)

    Matt McWaters,

    I finished stringing my solo 12 string tele. That took way longer than usual and of course I busted my drone gl!
    Just wondering if you had ever tried stringing it Rickenbacker style, that is drone reversed with main strings!!?? I’m told that’s what gives the Rick it’s distinctive sound.

    Also I notice that the roller bridges for the main strings have a small gap where the string can fall into and bind up, the Ferden or Gotoh 12s bridges have a full length roller as per the photos online.

    I’ll take care to make sure they sit on top of the roller saddle… I’m impressed with the neck, very little (none) truss rod tightening required, but I’m sure it will take a few days to settle, and the weather here is cold and damp and is affecting my stand-up acoustic bass.

    Also, I gotta say this stock solo pu’s aren’t bad at all, neck pu is nice and deep, combo is very clear and crisp. Actually they’re pretty good!
    Almost same overall loudness as my other electrics using my new boss katana.Controls have a very quick sweep, but are noiseless.

    Also,My bad…. My 1st attempt at the string retainer failed miserably, and the left screw post ended up touching the Ee strings!! Had to reposition, with a pair of 1/16″ holes looking back at me. Will fill it out with Tru-oil and saw dust next time I restring. Thanks for sending a replacement so quickly.

    Finally thanks for providing a really playable instrument for under 200$ (and another $100 in finishing stuff). I have a Thursday gig … I’m thinking of adding Hotel California to the set!

    https://1drv.ms/u/s!AjaWbwPubg5I4BDKrm5JYalZONZm
    Hotel California played on Solo 12 string TC….

    John Samborsky
    Austin Quebec

  9. buddha584

    I purchased this kit on Reverb.com. I really like the concept of a 12-string tele and the project turned out great despite the bumps in the road.

    I replaced the stock tuners with Grover Rotomatic locking tuners and these worked well. I did run into issues with electronics and pickup changes though. The bridge cavity was not large enough to fit a Fender alnico V pickup so I had to enlarge it with a dremel tool. The control cavity had to be enlarged as well, to fit standard size switchcraft 250k ohm pots.

    I too ran into significant issues with the octave G string. The string set that came with the guitar and a 9 gauge string from my elixir set didn’t hold. I ordered a few 7 gauge singles and these didn’t hold either. However I noticed a suggestion by another user about stringing the guitar Rickenbaker style and this was a game changer. This means that the low note in the pair is the top string (opposite of how my nut was cut). The guitar works perfectly now. I think the slight decrease in tension because of the position change was what saved it. This change also evened out the string height between the pairs.

    All in all this was a good project. I’m betting my booshy attitude about upgrading parts got in my way. However the electronics and pickups I chose are pretty standard so it’s a little surprising that I had to enlarge the body cavities. I would suggest that if you purchase this product be prepared for this issue. Also I suggest reversing the string position at the outset to avoid my stringing issues.

  10. dlkessler5 (verified owner)

    It took me a year to finish this mostly because I could not decide what to do with the finish. So to get in gear I offered my 13 year old grand daughter , “aspiring artist” to take a crack at the back of the body. I gave her a Sweetwater catalog directed her to some photos of finishing ideas and cut her loose. Two hours later she checked in exhausted and said “I’m done Grampaw. I think it’s really bad.” She was right. Good try, I’ll deal with it. Not bad for Starters. From there i decided to go with the fake road worn look, making sure there were at least no runs. There is evidence of at least 3 layers of color choices in the finished product but it is done with theme as it started. Good try. The assembly went well, I did have to put .25 shim in the neck pocket to get the action I wanted. I broke 4 of the 12 string set that the kit came with because they came rolled in a bundle that took some guess work to figure out what goes where. A 12$ set of Dedarrios cured that ( color coded ). Broke the .08 hi 3rd string G replaced w/ a .10 from 6 string set I had on hand for my mexican Jassmaster and broke that as well. Oh, the allen wrench for the neck adjustment included with the kit was wrong (too small). What we have here in the end is a rockin fine 11 string electric relic. I call it my Overcaster because it came out partly cloudy. Solo, you might look into offering neck shims. Stew-mac charges a bundle for theirs and by the time shipping and taxes are included my pockets are empty. Sadly I needed them to get it done right.

    I showed this monster off to my Church Band “The Mustard Seeds” and got some uuuhs and aaahs. It plays well and is a great conversation piece. Well done Solo.

  11. John Cury (verified owner)

    I have recently purchased the TCK-12 kit. It is my second kit from Solo and i must say these are very nice kits. My 12 string came in great shape and quickly. All the wood was in great shape and all the parts were there and fit perfectly. I have just finished both of my kits and will be sending pics. They are beautiful and sound and play great. Also when i ordered the kit i also ordered a case and the guys at Solo called me to let me know the guitar was to big for the case thanks so much. I will be ordering many more guitars from you THANKS. watch my build at jas hobbybuilds YouTube

  12. mulliwood (verified owner)

    I came looking for hollow-body, jazz box and came across this. I didn’t know 12 string teles existed.
    I read the reviews. I thought I’d see what it sounded like as delivered (no upgrades). When I put a meter to the pickups, the bridge was 6.52 k ohms and the neck was 257.6 (!). I called Solo (COVID protocols in place) and they offered a replacement, without conditions. I live localish. And an hours drive later. I have a curbside pickup replacement. (Anybody’s want a VERY quiet neck pup?)

    As stated above, instructions where not beginner level, string gauge required a micrometer and the G drone was too short. But those are first world problems.

    Unlike the dope on u-tube who didn’t pre assemble, and was left with an “unplayable” wall hanger. He admits he screwed up. And then gives a terrible review, because they didn’t replace his botched job. I have a clue how a tele bridge vs. tune-o-matic relates to neck angle. So preassembly showed I was good to go.

    I now have a new favorite guitar. Everything works. It’s quiet when I want it to be and jangle/barks like a tele should when I want. All parts stock to the kit.
    Now I’ll have to review the jazz box.

  13. peterthime (verified owner)

    The wood part is great, the rest….
    Strings – cheap, go flat fast and ferrule pulled off 3 strings.
    Saddles – worthless, key string portion has sharp edges, octave saddle is 1.5 mm lower than key string.
    Pots – dime size, ’nuff said.
    All screws are inferior material. Predrill and lube or they’ll break.
    Machine tuners – sloppy gear mesh, do not stay in tune.

  14. billpreston (verified owner)

    I haven’t assembled it yet.

    My kit did not come with a P90 hole like the picture. Just a standard single coil hole. I have a router so I can remedy that.
    There is a gouge on the side of the neck, but it shouldn’t be visible once assembled.
    There is a imperfection on the front middle. I am thinking that it will sand out.
    If anyone would like to see us unboxing it an the issues https://youtu.be/Scv2BsVQWug

  15. Ian Robbins (verified owner)

    I had a Jay Turser double neck that was too heavy to carry so I sold it and bought the 12 string tele. Just finished putting it together and am awaiting a decal before stringing it. I changed the tuners to Wilkinson as the one’s with the kit seemed a bit binding. Other than that, this is my 6th kit and this one is the best fitting one of them all. My dog passed away on the 23rd of December at age 12 and I wanted to do something to honor her, and I love the sound of 12 strings, so I bought this kit and lightly stained it and then clear poly for a natural blonde look, as Daisy was a short blonde sheppard mix. When I have the decal on and stringed, I will share some photo’s. Love the kits. For the price they are MORE than worth it!

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Here are some of our most popular upgrades for your DIY kit. When you opt for any of these upgrades, be prepared for potential modifications to ensure a perfect fit.

**Please keep in mind that these are separate purchases and cannot replace the items already included in the kit**

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